History

In January of 1944, a group of individuals residing in Lehigh Township were discussing the possibility of forming a volunteer fire company for Lehigh Township. The prime concern was the time it took for fire companies from surrounding communities to respond to emergencies in the areas of our Township. On February 03, 1944 the first meeting of these individuals was held to discuss the procedures which needed to be followed to form, name, and man a fire station in Lehigh Township . The date for the next meeting was made and when this day arrived, these individuals established the Lehigh Township Volunteer Fire Company #1. Officers were elected and over the next few months, by-laws were drafted and adopted by the Fire Company.

Through the next ten years, the members met twice a month and developed procedures to purchase fire equipment. to train members as firefighters, and at the same time were concentrating on purchasing a fire engine and finding and purchasing land to build the fire station on.

In August of 1945 the first fire apparatus was placed in service and in the next few months additional equipment was purchased to benefit the fire service in the Township. Since there was no building at the arrival of the truck it was housed in the machine shop at Dieter’s Foundry which is where the meetings were held at this time.

In 1946 land was purchased at the intersection in Cherryville. The building, which originally consisted of two bays, an office, the hail and a kitchen, was not to be built until 1954. In the years which followed, additional apparatus and equipment was purchased to better fulfill the duties of the Fire Company.

The first ambulance service to the Township was established in 1974, the Lehigh Township Volunteer Fire Company First Aid Squad. More members were taken on, and the Fire Company continued to grow in strength. After still more apparatus was purchased, the building was added on to sometime in the late seventies giving four new bays sufficient enough to house all of the trucks. (The exact dates are not accessible due to a loss of minutes from over the years.) During this time, the Township was growing at a rapid rate. To help keep up with the latest in firefighting skills, more schooling was made available to the members. As more knowledge was expected of volunteers, more equipment had to be purchased. Soon we would be running out of room once again from all of the changes.

In 1988 the ambulance service left the Fire Company and went on their own as the Lehigh Township Emergency Squad. Another addition was soon needed to house new equipment.

In 1990 there were two new bays added to the building in addition to two offices, a lounge, and sleeping quarters. The following year, the Fire Company welcomed its newest piece of apparatus, our Saulsbury Heavy Rescue truck. Today, the small Company which started out as an idea of a few Township residents, has grown into a well recognized and established firefighting service including 38 active firemen with seven pieces of apparatus, 07 Fire Police members along with a piece of apparatus for their own usage, and a Ladies’ Auxiliary of about 14 members. The average amount of incidents which we respond to in a year is 200 and the numbers are still growing as does the population of the Township. With the help of all of our devoted members, the Supervisors of the Township, and the cooperation of surrounding Companies, we will continue to provide service for the life, safety and welfare of our fellow citizens.

Thank you to all who have helped us in the past and continue to help us today.

Honorably yours,

Lehigh Township Fire Company #1
Station 47